1. This round limekiln, measuring some 7m in diameter, is shown as 'disused; on OS 1st edition mapping. Ttracks are also shown leading northwards down to the beach and westard to a small quarry 100m away.
Sources include:
OS 1st edition 25in mapping
Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, August 2014.
2. A fairly typical Cardiganshire coast lime kiln, of semi-circular plan, abutting a steep slope. This design avoids the problems inherent with the corners of stone structures, and also provides easy access to the top loading pit. The kiln is c3m high, and 6m wide. At the top is a circular stone lined pit c.2.5m in diameter, now filled to within about three-quarters of a metre of the top, but presumably narrowing towards the bottom, where it would have been connected with the lower openings. Below, at each side of the kiln are these two openings. The example at the NE being blocked, but that at the SW retaining its original dimensions, being c2m high and 1.85m wide, with a neat pointed arch.
Like other examples, this one is built on a coastal site where limestone and coal could easily be offloaded for conversion into lime for use on the land of nearby farms. The potential of lime for land improvement was realised during the agricultural revolution, but most examples of lime-kiln would appear to date from around 1830 when duties in coastal coal were lifted. The limestone and coal would be packed in layers in the pit. After burning, the lime would be taken out from the openings at the base (Howell & Beazley 79).
The tithe map shows that there was once three lime kilns on the immediate area of the surviving example. The scant remains of a second kiln survive as a vague semicircle of burnt stone, set into the bank beside the 'Portacabin', about 35m E of the consolidated kiln. No trace of the third kiln would seem to have survived. About 25m W of this lime kiln is a small quarry, ca 5m wide, 3.5m deep and cut ca 4m down into the hillside. No doubt used as a sourse of stone for the kiln as well as nearby buildings.
John Latham RCAHMW 21 August 2018
Source: National Trust Report: John Latham. 1985. Mwnt & Llwynysgaw - The National Trust Archaeological Survey 1985.
3. Tithe maps for the parishes of Verwig (1840) and Mount (1848) show 3 circular lime kilns in this area. This is the only one that remains standing as described in 2 above. It has been consolidated and is in a generally good condition (see NPRNs 800764 and 800765 for the other 2 kilns), with traces of boundaries and tracks as depicted on earlier mapping also surviving.
Of additional interest on the Verwig tithe map is a small square structure to the east of the kiln, which has been suggested as a possible lime burners hut. It may be that the possible quarry (described in 2 above) some 30 metres to the east of the kiln (SN 19384 51787) is actually the platform for this structure.
This is also the only kiln depicted here on the 1st edition 25-inch Ordnance Survey map (published 1889). By the 2nd edition map (published 1906) it had fallen out of use and was labelled as ‘old’. Both maps also show a quarry 100 metres to the southwest of this kiln (SN 19321 51764), a likely source of building stone.
The lime kiln was visited, photographed and surveyed by RCAHMW on the 16 August 2023. A 3D model of the photogrammetric survey is visible here: https://skfb.ly/oKuFP
Contextual Information
Lime kilns are a characteristic feature along the coastlines of west Wales. They are predominantly of 19th century date, although some were built prior to that, and some continued in use into the 20th century. They were used for burning limestone to make lime for use in agriculture and building. The former through spreading on the fields as a fertiliser and to counteract soil acidity, and the latter to make lime mortar. Their coastal position related to the need in many places to import the limestone for burning, and the culm (coal) that was used for fuel. Proximity to the shoreline reduced the need to move the limestone and coal very far after unloading.
Coastal lime kilns are generally round or square in shape and normally slightly wider than they are tall. They have a conical opening in their top, called a crucible, into which the limestone and culm was layered. Openings on either side, called the kiln eyes, connected to the base of the crucible and served for lighting the kiln and to allow air to be drawn into the crucible. After burning, the lime could be raked out via the kiln eyes. The kiln eyes come in many different shapes and sizes, from arched, to flat-topped, to tall and narrow.
Lime kilns were often constructed in pairs, with a small rectangular cottage for the kiln keepers in between them. At smaller landing places only a single kiln might have been built. In nearly all cases some sort of ramp was needed to carry the limestone and coal to a point where it could be added into the crucible from above. Many lime kilns are found built against the valley sides within coves or harbours, allowing the access ramp to be cut from the adjacent bank side, rather than needing to be built.
Louise Barker, RCAHMW, 3 July 2024.
Sources
Cadw: Listed Building No. 15866 https://cadwpublic-api.azurewebsites.net/reports/listedbuilding/FullReport?lang=en&id=15866
Heneb: Dyfed HER Record: PRN 31457
Moore-Colyer, R. J., 1988 Of Lime and Men: Aspects of the Coastal Trade in Lime in South West Wales in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Welsh History Review, 1, 54-77.
Moore-Colyer, R. J., 1992 Coastal Limekilns in South West Wales and their Conservation. In C. S. Briggs (ed), Welsh Industrial Heritage: a review, CBA Research Report, 79
National Library Wales: 1840 Tithe map and apportionment for the parish of Verwig, Cardiganshire https://places.library.wales/home
National Library Wales: 1848 Tithe map and apportionment for the parish of Mount in the County of Cardigan https://places.library.wales/home
National Trust Heritage Record No. 81154 / MNA135218 https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA135218
OS 1st Edition 25-inch map (published 1889): XXX sheet 5.
OS 2nd Edition 25-inch map (published 1906): XXX sheet 5.
RCAHMW Photogrammetric Survey 16/08/2023 https://skfb.ly/oKuFP